So when I started this website, my goal was to write a post at least once a week. I figured i do enough projects, and have enough ideas it should be easy.

The problem I forgot is I tend to start a tonne of projects at once, and don't finish any of them for months until I go through them all together. I am trying to break that habit, but at the moment I have several large projects I need to get around to.

One of those projects is directly related to this blog however. It turns out you can buy camera lenses that clip on over cell phone cameras that will actually allow me to photograph close enough to my beadwork to actually show the small shiny beads off! Now I just need to find a better lighting solution... I do really want to improve my project photos if I am going to be sharing them, but unfortunately that takes time to figure out.

Hopefully I will at least have something to show by next weekend. :)

UPDATE: Ok I lied - obviously. I am going to give this a rest for a couple of months and then hopefully have some stuff to post.

This week I didn't have a lot of time for bead work, but I did decide to try my hand at making some simple wire wrap rings. I don't have a lot of experience with wire wrapping, and it shows but there's nothing for that but practice and I think the results are at least wearable.

I made nine rings in an afternoon. Most of them simple five to ten minute exercise. It was all done with crafting wire I had laying around, and extra beads I had to use up. These rings are a great way to use one off beads that are left over from other projects, and that makes a built in set with whatever I had used the rest of the beads for.

The first ring I made was simple heart shaped ring I found on Pintrist. I used a bronze wire for the main ring. I added some bright pink wire to wrap to give it a splash of bling and color and to keep it from being too boring.

After that I wanted something to make with my purple wire. I settled for a spiral ring with some clear sparkly beads added between the wires. I sized this ring wrapping the wire around my finger, because I had no doweling. Because sizing is really hard to do one handed the ring ended up quite large for me, though it is still wearable on my index finger.

I then realized if I was going to attempt wire wrapped rings, I should probably start with the most basic starting point of a wire rose. I followed the ‘Rosette’ Wire Wrapped Ring tutorial found at: http://mcfarlanddesigns.blogspot.ca/2007/08/free-jewelry-making-tutorial-2-rosette.html to make a basic rosette in bright blue wire from Walmart. I still didn't have anything to wrap the wire around, so I ended up using a large lip-gloss bottle, though it was too big so I ended up with a pinky ring.

After making my first rosette ring, I figured I would make another in a more subdude colour, and add some beads - because everything is better with beads added. This one I also figured out how to make the rosette using far less wire before adding the splashes of colour.

Adding the beads to the rosette ring worked well enough I wanted another ring with a bead. I found a gorgeous white bead with blue speckles that had no pair for me to use for other things. I think it is left over from a jewelry set I made for a friend a few years ago. I simply attached the bead to a couple loops of wire to make the ring, then using another length of wire I circled the bottom of the bead repeatedly to hold the bead on fully. I did accidentally add an extra loop along the back of the bead, but after looking closely I decided it added a lot to the interest of the ring and was a happy accident.

After that loud bracelet I decided to make a simple and delicate ring. I had some shards of amethyst left from a necklace set. I used a simple silver coloured wire to make the ring and add five small bead shards for the little hint of colour on my fingers.

I finally decided to try a true wire wrapped adjustable ring. I found a great flat blue bead to circle with gold colored wire. Wrapping the two sides of the wire with a large string of thin wire, and ended the wires with basic curls. The ring is fully adjustable because the edges aren't connected to hold the size.

After the first wire wrapped bead I decided to try another more complicated one. I love the design of this ring, but the execution is really lacking. I attempted to circle three beads on one end, and another two on the end. Unfortunately the wire I chose was not quite thick enough to balance the beads out. I also didn't manage to size the parts that wrapped the beads very well, but from a bit of distance the colours take over from the imperfections and it is a wonderfully sparkly ring that shines all around my index finger.

Seed beads come in many shapes, not just the small round ones we often associate with the words "seed beads". Last time I went through the most common types of seed beads, these are some of the less common ones but still fun to use and unique seed bead shapes.

This is part two in a series of the bead shapes, and the basic shape descriptions of the sizes is also available at a touch in my app "Bead Shapes". - See more at: http://www.rosalinesrandoms.com/rosalines-bead-blog/seed-bead-shapes-part-1#sthash.VT4CGTgp.dpuf

Pipe

Pipe beads are a type of bead only made by Preciosa Ornela. They are similar to tube beads, but instead of cutting straight across the front as the bead is fed through - they are cut on an angle. This makes the bead have a rhombus shape when viewed from the side, and shows some gap string when stringing unless they are next to other angled beads.

Ersatz

Ersatz beads are tube beads, made by Preciosa Ornella where the ends are rounded off like rocailles. They look like square beads with rounded corners when looking from the side. Longsatz are just Ersatz beads with a longer stringing length.

Drop

Drop beads are larger than rocailles beads but the hole is off centered. Instead of in the center the hole is closer to the top so the bead hangs below the thread. They come in different sizes, widths and lengths from different manufacturers. In particular, Miyuki makes Magatama drop beads, which are far more filled out and beefy than most others.

Farfalle/Berry/Peanut

Farfalle beads are shaped like peanuts - which is probably why Matsuno calls them that. They are a shaped cylinders with the center narrowed down and the hole through there. They allow beads to fit together in interesting patterns, and seem to twist when many are threaded next to each other.

Square

Square beads are usually made as a cube, but can have threaded length to them as well. They can have different hole shapes to make for more interest. Because there are corners the suqare is sometimes twisted as well to create a more interesting shape.

Triangle

Triangle beads are triangles when viewed from the front. Their width usually follows the trend of square beads in that the width is the same size as one facet of the triangle, but it can also have stringing length. Again it can be twisted to varying degrees. The triangle bead often has an upside down triangle hole to contrast with the bead.

The front facets of the bead can be rounded off like rocailles or cut straight like with tube beads. Similarly the triangle edges can be rounded off a lot, a little, or not at all.

Oblong

Oblong beads have an oblong, rectangular with rounded corners, shape when looking at them head on. They are nearly square on the largest edge, which means they have an elongated rectangle when viewed from the top.

They can also be beveled, so they are an oblong shape but cut like a pipe.

Twin/Tila

Twin beads have two holes in them. They are usually a rounded oval with two holes poking through the largest side.

Miyuki's Tila beads are just like twin beads, but they are a more oblong shape with two holes through them. They come in two different sizes, tila and half tila where half tila is the same size as a tila bead but with half the stringing length.

Corolla

Corolla beads looks something like a four leaf flower when viewed head on. It has a round hole, with four bumps coming off the edge. They can also be twisted to give it more interest. They can be small, or have a long running length like a bugle.

Seed beads come in many shapes, not just the small round ones we often associate with the words "seed beads". These shapes are the most common types of seed beads, and beads overall.

This is part one in a series of the bead shapes, and the basic shape descriptions of the sizes is also available at a touch in my app "Bead Shapes".

Rocailles/Round

Rocailles or round beads are the beads we typically think of as seed beads. They come in many sizes, and usually have the largest range of glass type and finishes.

Size 11 round rocailles is the most popular type of bead in use. They comes in the most colours and finishes from nearly every manufacturer. They can take some effort at first to get used to the small size, and take some time to form but bead weaving results with them can be fantastic.

Certain sizes, particularly larger than average beads, also have names. Size 1/0 and 2/0 can be called "Crow beads", while 3/0 and 4/0 are "Trade beads" and 5/0 and 6/0 are "Pony beads".

Smaller than a 15/0 is usually found in antique beads. These are hard to come by and very expensive, but can make stunning results if you have the patience for them.

Rocailles can also be cut - though this is simply called cut rocailles or Charlotte depending on the manufacturer. Preciosa Ornela is the only major manufacturer using the name Charlotte, but they use it specifically for size 13/0 rocailles. A cut bead has a facet taken off one side to allow the change in angle to catch light better and make the bead sparkle.

Most manufacturers will make rocailles with either a round hole, or a square hole. When the beads are transparent the different shaped holes can make different effects.

Two-cut/ Hexagon

When multiple facets are cut off the side of rocailles, making the outside look like a hexagon, we call it "Two-cut". This makes the beads catch the light even more than simply cut beads and gives them a true shine.

The straight lines of the cut also mean the beads can be twisted, with the cuts running along a spiral shape instead of straight back. There are various levels of twist, and it is called different things from different manufacturers: single twist, double/extra/super or spiral twist.

Two cut beads can also be cut, and not necessarily be three-cut though i believe Preciosa Ornela is the only company to make the distinction. In these on one of the sides the corner is cut off, though not all of them - this is the distinction.

Three-cut

To get the fullest shine from a rocailles bead we use three-cut. The beads are cut down to hexagons like two cut, but then the sharp corners near the front and back are cut off again as well, making 6 diamonds facing the outside, with 12 triangles along each edge. This shape gives the most corners for light to sparkle off of -- the same idea as gemstones -- and sparkle.

Tube/Cut-off/Delica

Tube beads are small beads, shaped the same way as rounded ones but with sharp edges. They are made by cutting the bead off the line of glass used in making them very precisely. For this reason they are also sometimes called "Cut off" beads. From the front they look like a round circle, that goes straight back. They are usually a square when viewed from the side, as longer ones are bugle beads, but some companies will call their bugle beads tubes.

Tubes can be measured in either gauges like rocailles or in millimetres. If they are longer than they are tall, like bugles, they can be measured in millimetres.

The most well known form of tube beads are Delicas, a very precise bead that is a perfect square when looking from the side. They are often used in bead weaving because they give such a straight perfect look. They also tend to have large holes for their size, also making the mattractive to bead weaving as that allows more passes of a needle through the beads before they crack.

Miyuki are the most well known makers of Delica beads, and make incredibly precise ones. Preciosa Ornela also makes beads they call Delica; as well as Macco and Unica beads which are simply specific sizes of tube beads. Other companies make similar type tube beads, that can also be very exacting and still quite good for bead weaving.

Bugles

Bugle beads look like tube beads from head on, but have a large stringing length along the string. They are can be as long as 5cm, though are typically closer to 3 to 30 millimetres Their length is measured in cm, or Preciosa Ornela's linear series of .5" to 16.5" (note: this is not inches - it is an odd measurement that corresponds to 1.6 to 35mm)

Unlike rocailles the edges of bugles are straight cut not rounded; more like tube beads.

They are purely cylindrical or can be two cut into hexagons. On cut beads, because there is an edge they are sometimes twisted. The twisted bugles are occasionally simply called twist beads, and the bugle part of the name is dropped. Some companies have multiple levels of twist that they define: a normal twist and some form of super or extra twist.

Round bugle beads can also have a round or square hole, while cut bugle beads usually just have a normal round hole. The square holes can also be twisted to give an inner sparkle and create an interesting look.

My beaded bead gradient necklace was created over nearly 8 months in 2007, with approximately 30 hours of work time. It is made with size 11 round seed beads, and white size A nymo thread. I no longer recall how many beads it took, but I seem to remember going through at least two small bottles of each of the four colours.

The pattern came from Art of Beadwork by Valerie Hector. It is an amazing book with lots of pictures of unique beadwork. This design was a photograph of Laura Shea’s Rainbow Lei.

It is entirely created with size 11 rocallies seed beads. The 25 large beads are created by making one large round beaded bead and covering each one in 12 additional small beaded beads. Using only four colours of bead, the gradient is created by varying the ratio of colour in each large beaded bead. The back was made by reducing the large covered beaded beads, down to simply large beaded beads, then small beaded beads to attach. The clasp is simply a circle of small round beads on one side, and a flat line of beaded beads on the other.

This form of round beaded beads is one of my favorites to work with. This was my first experience with them, and I have since used the general pattern for multiple earrings and bracelets, though nothing as detailed as this necklace again.

I did find after wearing the necklace a couple times, the weight of the beads pulled at the simple thread and beaded clasp, and had to add a piece of wire through the straight part of the clasp to strengthen it. If I were creating this necklace again, I would use a more conventional, or simple clasp that could properly support the weight of the beads.